Jermyn Street, SW1

There was a time if I felt a bit flush and fancied a decent shirt or tie when I would go down to Jermyn Street, the traditional home of some of the best gentlemen’s outfitters that London could offer. Those days have long gone. Running parallel to Piccadilly in the north and Pall Mall in the south, Jermyn Street joins St James’s Street at its west end and Haymarket, after crossing over Regent Street, at the eastern end.

The street takes its name from Henry Jermyn, the Earl of St Albans, who leased the land from the trustees of Henrietta Maria, the erstwhile wife of Charles I, in 1661. The street first appears in the rate books of St Martin’s in 1667 as Jarman Streete, by which time there 56 entries, of which 36 relate to the north side. Some symmetry had been restored by 1675 when 108 names were recorded, 54 on each side. John Ogilby and William Morgan’s Survey of London as rebuilt by 1676 shows that the building of houses had been completed on both sides of the street by then.

But there was one major obstacle for residents. There was no access either to St James’s Street or Haymarket, where the street ended in the east at the time. This was a bit of a bummer and could not have been by design but perhaps was a testament to the expense that would have been involved in purchasing properties in the two main thoroughfares just to knock them down.

By 1746 a solution of sorts had been found, John Rocque’s map showing a narrow opening, labelled Little Jermyn Street, which led on to St James’s Street. It was only around 1819 when John Nash was planning New Street, later renamed as Regent Street, that the western end of Jermyn Street was widened and some houses were knocked down to facilitate access to Haymarket that the problem was resolved. One wonders quite how they coped for so long.

The inconvenience clearly did not put Sir Isaac Newton off from living there. He lived in number 88 – it is still standing – shortly after it was built in 1675 and then at number 87, which doesn’t. About half way down Jermyn Street in the space running parallel with Piccadilly is to be found the splendid Wren Church that is St James’, once the most fashionable church in London in its day.

The church seemed to mark a social divide in the street. Most of the houses which had the highest rateable value were to be found to the west of the church whereas the further east you went, values declined, perhaps because of their proximity to St James’s Market. The eastern part of the street seemed to consist of shops with lodgings above them. The poet, Thomas Gray, stayed in lodgings above Roberts’s, the hosiers, and Frisby’s, the oilman.

As well as purveyors of gentlemen’s luxury goods, you will find the oldest cheese shop in London, Paxton and Whitfield, which has been going since 1797, although I believe the cheeses are newer. The perfumier, Floris, is also worth a look, some of the display cases having been taken directly from the Great Exhibition of 1851.

A famous character at the turn of the 20^th century was Rosa Lewis, upon whom the TV series the Duchess of Duke Street was loosely based. She ran the Cavendish Hotel, where she was famed for her culinary skills and what was termed as her open-minded hospitality. She is credited as being the originator of the saying “It doesn’t matter what you do in the bedroom as long as you don’t do it in the street and frighten the horses.”

Oh, and you will find London’s smallest theatre there, the 70-seater being unimaginatively called Jermyn Street Theatre. It occupies what were the staff changing rooms at the Spaghetti House restaurant.

A fascinating street, even today.